February Meeting Recap

The guild met on Saturday February 18.  

Members dropped off quilts that are going to hang in our KMQG Quilt Show in March.  The Quilt Show will run from March 6th - 30th at The Emporium, 100 S Gay St., Knoxville, TN 37902.

Some other quilt shows in the area:

• QuiltCon Atlanta: Atlanta Convention Center at AmericasMart, Atlanta, Feb 23-26
• A Mountain Quiltfest: Pigeon Forge, June 5-8
• Smokey Mountain Quilters Quilt Show: Knoxville Expo Center, June 23-24 (Deadline for entries April 22)

Our first Restoration House Project charity quilt gives members scope to choose their block - just so long as it includes one of the polka dot fabrics supplied, and as long as it is a star block.  The star blocks are due in at the April meeting - watch this space for pictures when those blocks come together.

An introduction was given to our 2023 QuiltAlong which members can do as a mystery if they wish.  We have two months to choose fabrics before getting started.

Thanks to everyone who filled in our survey about Retreats and Sew-ins.  These responses will be used to put together a program of events for the year.

As usual, we had a great selection of projects in the Show & Tell, including several 'Mystery Purple' mini quilts which will be on display at the Quilt Show.

Two mini quilts from Michelle

and Michelle's 'Rage Made Beautiful' quilt recording Knox county's
Covid positive cases and Covid deaths
from March 1 2020 to October 1 2022

Diana

Christy

Christy

Paulina's cheerful gingham quilt - including a sunflower on the back

Paulina

Nancy

Nancy

Jane

Pat

Pat and Jo

Annie

Janne

Jo - including the back to show the lovely quilting

Jo

Elaine

Misty

Sandy

Sandy

Emily

Emily

Betsy

Kelly

Elizabeth

Elizabeth

Next Meeting: Saturday March 18, 10:30 to 12:00

January 2023 Meeting Recap

The guild met on January 21 for our first monthly meeting of the year. We set our Sewing Resolutions/Goals for the year, which we will revisit in July for a check-in and then again in December to see how much we accomplished. We also covered some quilt news and business before sharing for show & tell.

We will begin a new quiltalong for the year in February, and we'll also have a new charity block assignment for our partnership with The Restoration House.

The KMQG Quilt Show 2023 is coming together, with accepted quilts due to be turned in on Feb 18. The show is free and will be available for viewing at the Emporium in downtown Knoxville for the month of March.

Some other upcoming quilt shows in the area include:

• Farragut Quilt Show: Farragut Community Center, Feb 18 (8 am - 7:30 pm) and Feb 19 (10 am - 4 pm)

• QuiltCon Atlanta: Atlanta Convention Center at AmericasMart, Feb 23-26

• A Mountain Quiltfest: Pigeon Forge, June 5-8

• Smoky Mountain Quilters Quilt Show: Knoxville Expo Center, June 23-24 -- Deadline for entries is April 22

And then it was time for show & tell:

Betsy

Elizabeth

Elizabeth

Merikay

Jo

Sandra

Paulina

Laura

Laura

Diana

Erin

Erin

Sherry

Kelly

Kelly

Next meeting: Saturday, Feb 18 10:30-12pm

December 2022 Meeting Recap

The Knoxville Modern Quilt Guild met on December 10 for our December meeting and Holiday Party.  A great spread of food, and a lovely selection of mug rugs in the mug rug swap.

2022 Block of the Month Quilt Along

No block of the month announced this month - all 10 blocks have been announced now and we are looking forward to seeing the completed quilts.  We saw our first two examples:

Jo's completed 2022 Quilt Along Quilt

Michelle's completed quilt top

KMQG Show 2023

We are now accepting applications for members' quilts to be included in the show which will run at the The Arts and Culture Alliance's Emporium Center on Gay St. in Knoxville throughout March 2023.  Details of how to apply have been emailed out to members.  We look forward to showing a selection of modern quilts.  We will also be showing Mystery Purple Mini Quilt Challenge quilts to see how members use the solid purple fabric provided and incorporate it into a 20 x 20 inch mini quilt.

Sewing Resolutions 2022

We did an end of year recap on how many resolutions had been achieved.  Sherry earned a prize for having completed the most with 4 1/2 out of her 5 resolutions done.  Everyone is encouraged to come up with some new resolutions for 2023 (or maybe roll over some from this year)!

Board Elections

Elections were held for the board officers for 2023.

Show & Tell

A number of inspiring finished and in progress projects were shown.

Michelle showed a thought-provoking wall hanging in which she had used color to document daily Covid case numbers and deaths in Knox county from March 2020 to October 2022. 

Jo showed a memorial quilt made from a gentleman's ties

along with an accompanying mini

Kelly's FPP Christmas bunting

Nancy

Erin and Janne showed their Mystery Purple Challenge Mini Quilts

Janne

Erin (inspired by an amethyst geode)

Merikay and Annie both got into the mug rug making and showed extra examples on top of the ones they swapped.

Merikay

Annie

Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful festive season.

We look forward to seeing you next year at our first meeting of 2023 on January 21 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 10:30am.

QuiltCon 2023 Community Outreach Challenge: Radiata

The Knoxville Modern Quilt Guild is thrilled to reveal our submission for the 2023 QuiltCon Community Outreach Challenge! This quilt is called "Radiata," and it will hang at QuiltCon in Atlanta in February 2023.

In the summer of 2022, the MQG released the design and color prompts for the annual Community Outreach Challenge quilt. The design theme is Color Shift, and there was both a cool and warm color gradient to choose from. A committee of KMQG members began brainstorming design ideas for the challenge. Committee leader Emily reached out to Melissa, the guild's source of quilt inspiration for previous QuiltCon challenges, and, once again, she didn't let us down. Turns out she was exploring the Knoxville Zoo when she received Emily's text, and she had just seen a radiated tortoise sporting some striking shell markings.

With these images and a sketch from Melissa, Emily switched on her design brain, zeroed in on the cool color gradient provided by the MQG, and drafted an idea involving circles and rays:

Nancy drafted a foundation paper piecing template, Emily and Pat prepared solids, and members stayed after a monthly meeting to piece the components with a controlled improv approach to color placement (lights, mediums, darks).

The blocks were sewn together, and then Nancy sewed on the applique circles. The finished top and backing went to Pat for longarm quilting -- Karlee Porter's Wiggle Worm pantograph -- and Sandy sewed on the binding. The finished quilt measures 64 x 86 inches. We've named it "Radiata" in honor of its inspiration, Astrochelys radiata (aka radiated tortoise).

We are very happy with how our quilt turned out. Because QuiltCon 2023 is in Atlanta and within driving distance of Knoxville, many of our members plan to attend, and all look forward to seeing it hang with the other Community Outreach Challenge submissions.